A Good Week for the Cole Motor Cars

This past week was a great week for exposure of a few surviving Cole’s from the Cole Motor Car Company. It has been a good amount of time since a Cole has received some media exposure and has been shared to many people.

2019 Concours of America Media Day

First, Ben Burnham-Fleck’s 1923 Cole Two Person Sport Coupe Experimental Car was invited to the Concours of America Media day. This event took place at the historic Detroit Train Station that the Ford Motor Car Company has purchased and is restoring. The event takes place every year for the Concours to show off a few cars to the press, unveil some artwork, raise awareness about the charities, and generally build excitement for the upcoming event. The 23 Cole looked good setup in front of the train station and there was quite a bit of interest in the Cole from other collectors and the media. Ben, being 18 years of age, also garnered a lot of attention and was interviewed by Fox 2 Detroit, WWJ radio station, and a few news sites and magazines. Here are a few pictures from the event:

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2019 Copshaholm Concours d’Elegance

The second event over the last week was when Kevin Fleck took his 1913 Cole Series 9 Touring car to the Copshaholm Concours d’Elegance event in South Bend Indiana. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful setting at the Oliver mansion with a total of 75 invited cars at the Concours. The 1913 Cole was in the Motor Cars of the Lincoln Highway class which covered 1913 – 1928. There was a lot of interest in the Cole’s styling, engineering, and history of the company throughout the event by attendees, the judges, and other collectors. At 1:30pm, a Best of Class award ribbon appeared on the front of the Cole and then the Cole was honored with a crystal trophy during the pass in review award ceremony. An automotive historian then shared the history of the Cole Motor Car Company to the attendees, many who had never even heard of a Cole. The other cars in the class that the Cole competed against were amazing cars and included:

1913 Pathfinder Model A Touring

1916 Packard Twin Six Touring Car (This auto was actually driven by the Packard President on the Lincoln highway during the inauguration of the road)

1920 Liberty 10-C Touring

1923 Auburn 6-43 Touring Sedan

1927 Studebaker Commander Victoria Coupe

1927 Studebaker Standard Six Roadster (Right Hand Drive)

1928 Hudson Super Six Series O Victoria (Purchased recently from the Hostetler collection Auction last fall)

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Overall it was an honor to be able to participate in both of these events. A lot of history about the Cole Motor Car company was shared with people who were not aware. Also, exposing people to these quality built and interesting automobiles is a great thing for the Cole name and the hobby.